iPad 3 Release Date: Launch Set for Spring 2012 if Display Issues Can be Overcome

Apple’s iPad 3 is set to arrive at some point in spring 2012, recent rumors suggest. It has also been touted that the tablet will land with a thinner version of its connector.

The rumors came from one of CNET’s Asian sources, and if true the tablet should be even be thinner than the current iPad 2. However, that would also mean that it may not be compatible with previous iPad docks and keyboards.

Rumors do suggest though that the iPad 3 would have the same size screen as the current iPad 2.

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The production of the new device has already been pushed forward in factories owned by Apple suppliers before Chinese New Year.

Other reports said the new iPad 3 would feature a Retina screen with 2048 x 1536 resolution, four times higher than the iPad 2. The Wall Street Journal reported that 1.5 million screens were ordered by Apple.

It is not known whether the newest tablet will carry a quad-core processor. Some sources say both the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 will ship with versions of the A5 processor, which is currently used in iPad 2.

The iPad 2 was released March 11 this year. The iPad 3 is rumored to be lighter and thinner, but the asking price is unknown. There have also been rumors of a cheaper iPad model, a more affordable model to compete with Kindle’s Fire Tablet which is priced at only $199.

In other rumors it has been said that Apple has been experiencing significant technical difficulties in manufacturing the high-tech displays of its new, much anticipated iPad 3.

The displays are being manufactured by LG and Samsung, but the process is not going as smoothly as it should, CNET reported last week.

"They have production plans for 2,048x1,536 displays. Starting in November. But those are only plans at this point," an undisclosed source told the tech publication. "It's not a question of making just one. That, of course, can be done. The challenge is making lots of them. This is a quantum leap in pixel density. This hasn't been done before."